there was a bottle of whisky at clark’s feet, but apart from a few casual swigs out of habit, it had been mostly untouched so far tonight. uncharacteristic for him, especially considering gabe was seated directly to his right and the two of them together often had little self-control, but the woman on his left had most of his attention. clark wasn’t usually one to second guess himself. he was always open and honest, but something since yesterday had him feeling on edge, conscious of whether or not he was overwhelming anna and smothering her with attention.
his arm was draped casually across her shoulders, his usual hat tilted low enough that the firelight cast a warm shadow across his eyes and furrowed brow. maybe that unanswered call yesterday hit a little harder than he’d like to admit. going into the week, he had his mind set — he was gonna ask her to be his girl, officially. now, he didn’t feel quite so confident about it.
izzi appeared on his right, making her way into gabe’s lap and immediately getting too cozy. good for him at least, but clark wasn’t waiting for them to start sucking face. he gave gabe a solid ‘way to go, kid’ pat on the shoulder anyway as he rose to his feet, then extended a hand to anna as a sign for her to join him.
no one had to know clark well to realize he wasn’t acting like his usual loud self, and he knew anna especially would see right through the crap. with her hand in his, he led her a little ways away from the fire, finding an empty cabin step that was softly lit by strands of overhead lights. sitting down with a somewhat dramatic sigh, he lifted his hat off his own head and placed it onto hers with a little tilt to make sure it sat right.
“looks better on you anyway,” he murmured, trying for playful but the softness in his voice gave him away. “i, uh… wanted to check in about yesterday.” he gave a small shrug, “seeing him had to be something. i just wanna make sure you’re okay. that you’re good.” that we’re good, he meant.
you annoy me ✧ i tolerate you ✧ i’d like to get to know you better ✧ i’d like to be friends with you ✧ you’re my friend ✧ we have great banter ✧ you inspire me ✧ i’d watch your back ✧ i’d check on you at 2am ✧ i think you’re cute ✧ i think you’re hot ✧ i’d hug you ✧ i’d kiss you ✧ i’d hold your hand ✧ i’d hook up with you ✧ i’d tell you a secret ✧ i’d trust you with my playlist ✧ i love you (platonically) ✧ i love you (romantically) ✧ i’m obsessed with you ✧ you’d lose in mario kart ✧ i’d fight someone for you ✧ we would get into trouble together
